Elements in Critical Issues in Teacher Education – serie

Preparing teachers to work with and for diversity in their classrooms and beyond is an objective that seems to be globally accepted in pre-service and in-service teacher education. However, what diversity means, what it entails and how to engage with diverse individuals in educational contexts can take on multiple shapes in different parts of the world. This Element suggests that the multifaceted and polysemic notion of interculturality could be useful to unthink and rethink (ad infinitum) working with diverse people in education. The Element surveys the different meanings and ideologies attached to the notion, using a multilingual perspective to do so. Recent research published internationally on the topic and its companions such as multicultural is also reviewed. The main addition to the field is a critical and reflexive perspective which is proposed for teacher educators, (students) teachers and researchers. The proposal draws from Dervin's most up-to-date theoretical and pedagogical work.

Despite often being associated with anti-establishment, irreverent, and a do-it yourself (DIY) rejection of dominant culture, less considered may the collaborative, communal and curative threads of punk thinking, being and doing. From the outset, punk offered critiques and alternative ways of conceptualizing a world and ways of worlding, that aren't as harmful and constraining as those encountered by many in the dominant milieu of life. This monograph is focused on how and why punk can productively contribute to efforts that are responding to the influences of dominant culture in education, such as the effects of standardization, heightened accountabilities, and 'gap talk'. For this Element, punk can be thought of as social practices that generate cultural resources that can be utilized to critique dominant culture. Hence, this Element aims to make the case that punk sensibilities offer educators opportunities to reclaim the cultural politics of teaching and learning.

This Element explores ways to promote critical literacy in teacher education. First, the authors define critical literacy in the context of teacher education through established theoretical frameworks and models of critical literacy pedagogy and share their collective findings on critical literacy research over the course of a decade. Building from these theoretical understandings of critical literacy, they outline ways to actualize critical literacy in teacher education as a transformative pedagogy coupled with resources and activities that support equitable teaching practices. Next, they illustrate how adaptive teaching supports critical literacy pedagogy and underscore autoethnography as a reflective tool to engage pre-service teachers in critical literacy practice. They model this approach with mentor text analyses using critical literacy as a lens to facilitate critically-oriented mindsets in teachers through visioning. They conclude with implications for classroom practice at the intersections of critical literacy and teacher preparation and provide directions for future research.

Redefined transformative learning refers to learning that implies a change in the learner's identity, which includes cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions and is something all teachers, in this case migrant teachers, experience and negotiate when meeting a new educational context. "Who am I as a teacher in a new country?" migrant teachers ask themselves. To understand oneself as a teacher, one must identify and coordinate the past and present with a future direction, which causes migrant teachers to talk about a transformed professional identity with additional skills. This Element concerns migrant teachers' transformation, how they redefine their professional identity, and how to support this in teacher education.

This Element aims to elucidate the theories of social cognition and to delineate their implications for the professional development of language teachers in primary and secondary schools. We first explore the concept of social cognition. The three key dimensions, that is, representation of social reality, social cognitive processing, and social mental abilities, of the social cognition theories are further elaborated with examples closely associated with language teaching and teacher development. We continue with more specific issues such as impression, attitude, emotion, and self-efficacy, which arise and develop as language teachers code, store, and retrieve information from social situations. We then discuss how social cognition influences teacher learning and development as observed and promoted within different social realities, and we end this Element with a call for a social-cognitive perspective on understanding language teachers' learning and development situated in diverse and changing contexts in and out of schools.

School leaders work in increasingly complex systems. Alongside leading learning, they daily navigate the needs and expectations of educational departments, teachers, students, parents, society, and themselves. Leadership can therefore be a dynamic vocational calling, but studies show that principals' professional agency, career sustainability, and wellbeing are diminishing. This Element brings a fresh perspective to how educational leaders can be better served and supported by collaborative, co-agentic partnerships at this time. It makes the case for professional supervision, a practice commonplace in clinical and pastoral professions that offers facilitated, action-oriented attention to the interplay of role, 'soul', and context. As a practice-based primer, this Element reclaims supervision against outdated associations with performance management by drawing on interdisciplinary research and the authors' own experience as supervisor partners with principals. It proposes a new schema of professional supervision in education informed by curiosity, unlearning, resonance, and attunement in a rapidly changing world.

This Element examines post-apartheid pedagogy in South Africa to uncover philosophical and epistemological foundations on which it is predicated. The analysis reveals quaint epistemologies and their associated philosophical postulations, espousing solipsistic methodologies that position teachers and their students as passive participants in activities rendered abstract and contemplative - an intellectual odyssey and dispassionate pursuit of knowledge devoid of context and human subjectivity. To counteract the effects of such coercive epistemologies and Western orthodoxies, a decolonising approach, prioritising ethical grounding of knowledge and pedagogy is proposed. Inthis decolonising approach to learning and development, students enact the knowledge they embody, and, through such enactment of their culturally situated knowledge practices, students perceive concepts in their process of transformation and, consequently, acquire knowledge as tools for critical engagement with reality -and tools for meaningful pursuit of self-knowledge,agency, and identity development. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This Element examines post-apartheid pedagogy in South Africa to uncover philosophical and epistemological foundations on which it is predicated. The analysis reveals quaint epistemologies and their associated philosophical postulations, espousing solipsistic methodologies that position teachers and their students as passive participants in activities rendered abstract and contemplative - an intellectual odyssey and dispassionate pursuit of knowledge devoid of context and human subjectivity. To counteract the effects of such coercive epistemologies and Western orthodoxies, a decolonising approach, prioritising ethical grounding of knowledge and pedagogy is proposed. Inthis decolonising approach to learning and development, students enact the knowledge they embody, and, through such enactment of their culturally situated knowledge practices, students perceive concepts in their process of transformation and, consequently, acquire knowledge as tools for critical engagement with reality -and tools for meaningful pursuit of self-knowledge,agency, and identity development. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Redefined transformative learning refers to learning that implies a change in the learner's identity, which includes cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions and is something all teachers, in this case migrant teachers, experience and negotiate when meeting a new educational context. "Who am I as a teacher in a new country?" migrant teachers ask themselves. To understand oneself as a teacher, one must identify and coordinate the past and present with a future direction, which causes migrant teachers to talk about a transformed professional identity with additional skills. This Element concerns migrant teachers' transformation, how they redefine their professional identity, and how to support this in teacher education.

Despite often being associated with anti-establishment, irreverent, and a do-it yourself (DIY) rejection of dominant culture, less considered may the collaborative, communal and curative threads of punk thinking, being and doing. From the outset, punk offered critiques and alternative ways of conceptualizing a world and ways of worlding, that aren't as harmful and constraining as those encountered by many in the dominant milieu of life. This monograph is focused on how and why punk can productively contribute to efforts that are responding to the influences of dominant culture in education, such as the effects of standardization, heightened accountabilities, and 'gap talk'. For this Element, punk can be thought of as social practices that generate cultural resources that can be utilized to critique dominant culture. Hence, this Element aims to make the case that punk sensibilities offer educators opportunities to reclaim the cultural politics of teaching and learning.

This Element advocates the Majlis Curriculum as a culturally responsible framework for teacher education in Arabia. Rather than treating culture as a supplementary means of transmitting local values or reducing it to language instruction, the Element conceptualizes culture as an epistemic and pedagogical foundation for teacher training. It extends the Arab-Islamic tripartite model of Tarbiya, Ta'lim, and Ta'dib by introducing Al-Ra'y as a fourth component of deliberative reasoning. The Majlis is theorized as an educational space that cultivates deliberation and civic responsibility in conversation with the liberal arts. This Element, therefore, positions culturally responsible pedagogy as a precondition for culturally responsive teaching. Intercultural engagement requires identifying and activating local epistemologies that align with the aims of liberal arts. The Element offers a contextual approach that preserves cultural continuity and enables teachers in Arabia to engage with international educational discourses. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This Element advocates the Majlis Curriculum as a culturally responsible framework for teacher education in Arabia. Rather than treating culture as a supplementary means of transmitting local values or reducing it to language instruction, the Element conceptualizes culture as an epistemic and pedagogical foundation for teacher training. It extends the Arab-Islamic tripartite model of Tarbiya, Ta'lim, and Ta'dib by introducing Al-Ra'y as a fourth component of deliberative reasoning. The Majlis is theorized as an educational space that cultivates deliberation and civic responsibility in conversation with the liberal arts. This Element, therefore, positions culturally responsible pedagogy as a precondition for culturally responsive teaching. Intercultural engagement requires identifying and activating local epistemologies that align with the aims of liberal arts. The Element offers a contextual approach that preserves cultural continuity and enables teachers in Arabia to engage with international educational discourses. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This Element focuses on the role of interactive technologies in enhancing pre-service teachers' engagement with learning in online environments. It begins with a brief overview of the current state of teacher education, focusing on online teaching. This is followed by analysing the concept of engagement, underscoring its importance for pre-service teachers studying online. The Element explores various dimensions of engagement - cognitive, behavioural, affective, and other - and how interactive technologies can enhance these dimensions in online learning. A key feature of this Element is its exploration of key challenges that teacher educators and pre-service teachers encounter when using interactive technologies with practical recommendations for addressing them. The concluding section shifts the focus to the future, offering recommendations for how teacher education can use interactive technologies to 'grow' teacher educators who can engage their students. Throughout the Element, practical examples complement theoretical discussions to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

This Element focuses on the role of interactive technologies in enhancing pre-service teachers' engagement with learning in online environments. It begins with a brief overview of the current state of teacher education, focusing on online teaching. This is followed by analysing the concept of engagement, underscoring its importance for pre-service teachers studying online. The Element explores various dimensions of engagement - cognitive, behavioural, affective, and other - and how interactive technologies can enhance these dimensions in online learning. A key feature of this Element is its exploration of key challenges that teacher educators and pre-service teachers encounter when using interactive technologies with practical recommendations for addressing them. The concluding section shifts the focus to the future, offering recommendations for how teacher education can use interactive technologies to 'grow' teacher educators who can engage their students. Throughout the Element, practical examples complement theoretical discussions to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

This Element aims to elucidate the theories of social cognition and to delineate their implications for the professional development of language teachers in primary and secondary schools. We first explore the concept of social cognition. The three key dimensions, that is, representation of social reality, social cognitive processing, and social mental abilities, of the social cognition theories are further elaborated with examples closely associated with language teaching and teacher development. We continue with more specific issues such as impression, attitude, emotion, and self-efficacy, which arise and develop as language teachers code, store, and retrieve information from social situations. We then discuss how social cognition influences teacher learning and development as observed and promoted within different social realities, and we end this Element with a call for a social-cognitive perspective on understanding language teachers' learning and development situated in diverse and changing contexts in and out of schools.